The Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire yesterday urged the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi Ojaja II, and other traditional leaders in the Southwest to increase advocacy for improved primary health care (PHC) delivery.

He stated that while the government’s investment in tertiary health care is good, it should not be at the detriment of primary health care centres which are the closest to the people, especially in the treatment of childhood diseases, administration of routine immunisation, and the provision of other lifesaving healthcare services.

During the maiden quarterly review meeting of the Southwest Traditional Leaders’ Committee on PHC delivery, which was chaired by the Ooni of Ife, the minister said: “I look forward to this Committee intensifying our community mobilisation efforts and advocating to our political leaders at all levels the unquantifiable benefits of investing in the health sector, particularly in primary health care, which is the closest to the people.

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“I believe that working together will fast-track the achievement of our regional and national targets in routine immunisation, COVID-19 vaccination, polio eradication, and maternal and child health.”

The Ooni said: “We (traditional leaders) are the closest to our people. We don’t need to wait for the Federal Government, state and local governments for us to help our people.

The Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Dr Faisal Shuaib said: “Nigeria is one of the countries that witnessed an increase in routine immunisation despite the COVID-19 pandemic. To make progress in primary health care services, we need your advocacy to the governance to improve the number of health workers in PHCs because only 30 per cent of PHCs have the right mix of human resources.”